Nine things I learned at BlogHer ’09

So, after five years of BlogHer and being blessed enough to have attended all five, I realize you can always walk away from this conference having learned something.

1. Really? It doesn’t matter what you wear because people will forget unless you show up in a wedding dress or naked. Both will get you cheers and looks. As long as you are comfortable in your own skin, whatever clothes you have on will work. Most importantly, wear comfortable shoes. No matter how cute your new shoes are, you will hate them at them end of the day if your feet are bloody and blistered.

2. Decide in advance what sessions you want to attend because when you decide ten minutes before it starts not only will you probably get lost trying to find it but when you do get there, it will probably be standing room only. If that occurs, do you really want to be the woman who freaked out from claustrophobia and ran screaming from the room. Not that it actually happened that way but I did have to leave at least one because OMG I know there was just not enough air that room for all of us.

3. Take care of yourself. If that means going to your room for quiet time or sitting outside to catch your breath (because everyone else seems to have stolen the air) or just meeting friends in a quiet place to talk. It is so easy to get overwhelmed. It is okay to just say no.

4. Unless you can clone yourself (and please don’t because there were so many people there already, y’all!), you cannot be at all places at all times. It is okay to miss some things. Live in the moment and you will have more fun and take so much more away from this amazing conference. You make it what you want it to be.

5. Sometimes you find yourself texting your roommate (and/or friends) non-stop saying “Where are you?” It is perfectly okay to lojack your roomie for simplicity in finding them in a crowded hotel. (Oh,sure, Busy Mom(The Original) says that borders on stalking but what does she know? She is still chipped just in case. I think her words were “It’s not stalking. It’s an intimate friendship.”) And? You may be surprised that every time you turn around the same person is there. It’s all good. Hug them. I am pretty sure Soapbox Mom was not stalking me. Or was she? Either way, we got about a million hugs in over the course of the weekend. Now, I miss not seeing her.

6. This conference is HUGE. A hotel with 1500 women is overwhelming. However, do not be afraid to go up to a blogger you admire and want to meet. Whether you have 11 readers a day or eleventy-hundred, we all like meeting new people. In fact, when I got on the elevator one day, I ran into Ree. She had the same shell shocked look most of us did. I asked her if she was overwhelmed with people talking to her and coming up to meet her. She said there really weren’t that many people who did just come up to introduce themselves. Luckily, I have no boundaries and had no problem gushing at her.

7. I always thought that Liz of This Full House was hard to understand because of that think Joisey accent. It turns out that is not the case. It is because she probably has a brownie shoved in her mouth. And? She may be losing her hearing because everytime I opened my mouth she replied with “What?” And we all know I do not have an accent at all. It must be her.

8. Maria and V (@veepveep) only seem scary. I mean, just because Victoria said she would cut me about a hundred times and Maria pulls no punches when she talks to you, they are awesome. If you did not meet them, you need to. They probably really won’t cut you. But you may get a weird package from UPS from V. Don’t open it. I’m just sayin’.

9. If you are going somewhere on a big bus meant to carry a lot of people and find it is too full for just a few more, jump on the chance to take the smaller Dork bus. Had I not done that, I would have missed out on meeting Miss Britt in person for the first time who in turn introduced me to Adam who is really a nice guy. (Shhhh, don’t tell!) As well as laughing with the other super cool Dork Bus mates. (Dork Bus Mates: Send me your urls so I can link you. My brain is too fried and I am too sick to look. And lazy. And a dork.) We had a blast laughing on that trip to Ford.

And one more for BlogHer ’10:

10. Jory, Elisa and Lisa work really hard with an amazing staff to pull off an incredible conference. For you. Did you thank them? You should. Did you thank the staff? You should. Did you especially thank Lori Luna? If not, bow down and thank her with every ounce of thankfulness you have. She is a miracle worker and an advocate for you if things go a bit haywire.

I learned more but I know that all the cool kids do Top Ten bullet points so I have to stop. And there was so much more to say. Maybe later. Or not. I will have to think of 10 more things.